Mountain West Basketball: 2017-18 stars on each team in the conference

11 of 12

TUCSON, AZ – MARCH 17: The Utah State Aggies bench looks on during their 68 to 73 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats during the second round of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at McKale Center on March 17, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Utah State Aggies – Koby McEwen

The Aggies were an offensively talented team that simply struggled to win games last season. The defense was at best inconsistent at times and at worst awful, which led to games they shouldn’t have lost.

The best player on the team was outgoing senior Jalen Moore, who put up 17 points on average, leading the team.

On what was a relatively young team, Utah State has to deal with the other local schools such as BYU and Utah for recruits, losing most of those battles. In order to win, they need to find talented players that the other schools haven’t gotten to.

One player who fits that mold was freshman Koby McEwen. Even with Moore playing as well as he did, McEwen ultimately scored 15 points per contest. He was awarded the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year Award for his efforts.

As a sophomore this year, he will have to deal with being the focus of all defensive schemes and becoming Batman instead of Robin. His other sophomore partner, Sam Merill, will look to increase his scoring output from 9.5 points to help out with McEwen.

It’s hard to tell what happens with the Aggies. Even with Moore, they still finished ninth, mainly because their depth is far less talented overall. The best players are underclassmen, so if they stick around Utah State could become a factor in a couple of years. Until then, McEwen will have to elevate his game just to give his team a chance next year.